Jurgen Klopp admits one Liverpool player was ‘not happy’ immediately after Newcastle United win
Darwin Nunez missed several chances for Liverpool in their 4-2 win.
The Reds ran out 4-2 winners to move three points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Mo Salah fired a double, while Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo were on target. Liverpool had 34 shots throughout the encounter, with 15 on target, and recorded the highest expected goals total (7.27) of a single Premier League game since record started.
Nunez had eight of those efforts but he could not find a way past Newcastle keeper Martin Dubravka. The Uruguay international, signed for an initial fee of £64 million from Benfica in July 2022, has netted only one goal in his previous 14 Reds appearances, although he did selflessly assist Salah to break the deadlock.
Regardless of failing to score, Klopp highlighted how Nunez kept Newcastle centre-back duo Sven Botman and Fabian Schar occupied during the game – and is not worried by the 24-year-old.
The Liverpool manager told Sky Sports: “Of course, he’s not happy with not scoring. I saw him involved. Football is a pretty simple game, put the ball in the back of the net but that boys have to do a lot of stuff besides that. He kept Botman and Schar together. We needed him there. As long as Darwin has these moments then it’s all fine. Darwin will score. Social media is a bit of a disturbance slightly. No-one has to worry about Darwin. He played a really good game with a really unselfish pass to Mo and he scored a goal.”
Blockbuster deal suggests Mo Salah is on the way out of Liverpool
Mo Salah wrote his name right across Liverpool’s 4-2 win on Monday night, with goals and an assist underscoring a great all-round performance against Newcastle.
It was another 90 minutes from the Egyptian King for the Anfield faithful to enjoy, though there might not be too many more of those.
Although things have gone quiet in terms of move to the Saudi Pro League, there’s no doubt that they will come calling again either in this or the next window.
On the face of it, Jurgen Klopp would be loathe to lose his talisman, however, there’s no getting away from the fact that Salah will be 32 by the start of the 2024/25 campaign, and if the club were to receive an offer in excess of £100m, that’s surely going to be too tempting to turn down.
Furthermore, as Le Parisien note, the Reds are still putting themselves forward as the next destination for Kylian Mbappe, and the only way that Liverpool afford that deal is by removing Salah from the wage bill.
At 25 years of age, the French World Cup winner still hasn’t theoretically reached his peak as a player, and that’s a scary thought for any club that happen to be in opposition to him.
Real Madrid loom large of course, and the smart money would still be on Mbappe making a move to the Santiago Bernabeu.
All the while the player stays silent, however, Liverpool are in with a chance.
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